The "fiscal cliff" is coming in January if Congress and the President do not agree on a deal, and Fox is suddenly concerned about its consequences for the Judicial Branch. Fox News' website reports that the "federal court system is bracing for the possibility of thousands of layoffs or furloughs" if no deal is reached.

David Sentelle, chairman of the executive committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States is quoted, saying the would have "significant adverse impacts on judiciary operations and services." Fewer court employees means fewer cases heard, leading to larger case backlogs, with longer hours for court officials and fewer cases proceeding.

It is good to hear that Fox cares about this, considering their relative silence over Republican obstructionism, much of it by anonymous holds where one Senator can block a confirmation, in confirming President Obama's judiciary appointments. Perhaps someone should inform Fox News that the President's nominees are getting confirmed at far lower rates (75%) than previous administrations' nominees (81% of Clinton and 88.7% of Bush), leading to a backlog of cases, longer hours for court officials, and fewer cases proceeding. Slate.com has an infographic comparing Obama's nominees to those of previous presidents.

Fox's article then goes on to detail the cuts which the rest of the government will face, the military in particular (as Fox has detailed multiple times over the past few weeks). No mention is made of any specifics on the domestic spending side, such as cuts to health insurance for poor women and children, Head Start, or Medicare and the effects of cuts to any of those programs.

To bid the reader farewell Fox mentions that Boehner proposed "$800 billion in revenue over the next 10 years" and that "Obama said it didn't go far enough." Fox left out any mention of offers the White House has made or reminding the readers that Boehner's proposal was woefully vague on its specifics, both in how it would raise revenue and which programs it would cut (spoiler: it probably won't be the military though).

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Even if ManTan Boner had the political balls to make a sensible deal with our President, the teabagging House Repugs would vote it down and probably vote Boner out as Speaker. Welcome to life on the downside of the fiscal cliff.